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Hosting Assembly session costs varsity centre dear
Dhumal govt obliged pvt firms: minister
Cong factions lobbying in Delhi for RS ticket
Truck operators stage dharna
Chamba friendlier to wild animals
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Bill precedes phone connection!
Parliamentary secys must quit, says BJP
Plan to redraw limits of wildlife sanctuaries
Dalai Lama wishes to visit China
Bridge under construction collapses, 1 killed
Row over lease of land
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Hosting Assembly session costs varsity centre dear
Dharamsala, March 10 Supply of drinking water and electricity to the centre has since been affected. Mr Anand Sharma, president of the Students’ Central Association, said there had been no supply of drinking water to all the nine departments after the session and the Department of Economics had been plunged into darkness as the temporary wiring was removed after the session. The benches taken from some departments have also not been returned. Besides, students are also complaining of delay in construction of the new building of the centre proposed to come up in Khaniara and the absence of a regular director of the centre. Post-graduate students boycotted classes yesterday and took out a rally to highlight these demands. They also submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner. The Principal of the neighbouring Government Degree College said Mr Sharma had been doubling up as the director and this was affecting proper administration of the regional centre. Moreover, the students have to run to the college everytime they need to get something approved. Mr Narender Awasthi, officiating director, denied that holding the session of the Vidhan Sabha on the campus had affected the infrastructure of the regional centre. “Only a few benches were taken for the session and we would soon make up for them. The issue of disruption in water and power supply has been taken up with the district administration,” he said. “We have been briefing the university authorities about the need for a regular director for the regional centre and now it is up to them to advertise the post. The Revenue Department has done demarcation at the new site in Khaniara and construction would soon begin,” he said. |
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Dhumal govt obliged pvt firms: minister
Shimla, March 10 Intervening in the debate on the General Budget in the Vidhan Sabha today, he said the BJP government purchased apple packing cartons at a high rate of Rs 26.50. The growers were supplied cartons at Rs 20 apiece but the government also paid Rs 11 crore to corrugators as subsidy which was patently wrong. The same cartons were now being procured at Rs 21.50. Not only that, the market intervention scheme under which loss on account of procurement of fruit on support price was shared by the Centre and the state government was scrapped during the Dhumal regime which failed to pay the growers. The Congress government not only cleared the arrears of growers amounting to over Rs 15 crore but also paid arrears of subsidy totalling Rs 5 crore to the corrugators. He also alleged that the previous government purchased secateurs (pruning scissors) at exorbitantly high rates from a private company of Switzerland in 2000-01. Initially, 254 secateurs were purchased at Rs 1625 each but subsequently 2,400 more pieces were procured at Rs 1,890 each. The rate was increased without any plausible reason. Mr Singhi Ram said the BJP government started the practice under which contractors procured pipes for various water supply and sewerage schemes of the Irrigation and Public Health Department. The procurement was made form select firms based at Jalandhar. Earlier, the pipes were supplied by the department to contractors. Mr G.S.Bali, Transport Minister, said he would resign as minister if the charge of corruption in the ski village project was proved. He said if the state lost such a prestigious project it would be a big setback to the development effort and the blame would squarely lie on the BJP. He urged the party not to oppose development projects and create an environment which would scare away the investors. Mr Jai Ram of the BJP said the government had failed to make appointments of nurses, teachers and health workers as announced in the last Budget. It rolled back the professional tax last year and in the latest Budget, it had made a complete U-turn on resource mobilisation. It was a Budget of the government on the way out. |
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Cong factions lobbying in Delhi for RS ticket
Shimla, March 10 Senior leaders from rival factions in the Congress have rushed to Delhi to seek the ticket for their respective candidates as one seat from the state will fall vacant this month. It is reliably learnt that 41 MLAs, including, five associate Congress members, have signed a letter in favour of Mr Natha Singh, being backed by the Virbhadra group. Out of the 48 Congress MLAs and its associate members, 41 have extended support to the candidature of Mr Natha Singh, a senior leader from Mandi district. The Virbhadra loyalists are expected to hand over a list of their names to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi and others in the high command. They have opposed the candidature of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee chief Viplove Thakur, who has the support of Ms Vidya Stokes. Ms Viplove Thakur, Revenue Minister Sat Mahajan, Mr Sukh Ram’s son Anil Sharma and Mr Natha Singh are frontrunners for the ticket. The fact that Ms Viplove Thakur hails from Kangra goes in her favour as there have been allegations of discrimination against and inadequate representation of the district. A senior leader from Delhi, most likely a minister, being given the party ticket is also being talked about, with the name of Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh doing the rounds. Mr Virbhadra Singh left for Delhi today while some of his loyalists had been camping in Delhi to seek an audience with the AICC chief and other senior party leaders. |
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Truck operators stage dharna
Nangal, March 10 The Nangal truck operators took this extreme step, as they did not get any favourable response from the state government regarding their demands within the three-day ultimatum. The truck operators stopped the entry of trucks from the Himachal Pardesh border at Gagret, Nangal, Kiratpur, Mehatpur in Una, Nalagarh and Goalthai in Bilaspur district. Seeing the gravity of the situation a large number of policemen including Punjab Police
Commandos, were deployed in the town and also on roads linked with Himachal. The
strength of the Himachal Police was also increased in Goalthai in Bilaspur district (H.P). The truck operators were protesting against the killing of truck operators and injuring others in police firing in Goalthai in Bilaspur by Himachal Pradesh policemen on March 5. The truck operators have demanded withdrawal of cases registered against the Nangal truck operators who allegedly set on fire trucks and a bus of Himachal Pardesh after a police firing
incident. They also said a case of murder and attempt to murder should be registered against the Himachal Police personnel and truck operators involved in the clash. The President of the Punjab Truck Operators, Mr Tarlochan Singh, said: "If our demands are not accepted in the next 48
hours, then we would not allow even buses and other vehicles of Himachal Pardesh to enter Punjab. “But we have allowed truck operators of Nangal to lift chlorine gas cylinders stored in large numbers in the PACL Company in the interest of locals," he added. When contacted, the SSP, Ropar, Mr Surinder Pal Singh Virk, said that the situation was under control and "we have deployed a large numbers of police personnel to ensure the smooth flow of vehicles without any disturbance from Himachal." |
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Chamba friendlier to wild animals
Chamba, March 10 It is common to come across group of herbivores crossing the road while travelling from Chamba to Pathankot in the odd hours of the night and the evenings. This indicates that there is a possibility of better survival of the carnivores, especially the snow leopard and other animals of the cat family, in the wilderness of Chamba. The survival of the animals depends not only on the habitat but also the availability of food. The presence of the herbivores is perceptible in the remote areas of the district. Evidences of human-animal conflict have reduced, which is attributable to the healthy habitat for the animals. The Conservator of Forests, Chamba, Mr Avtar Singh, confirmed that he had recently sighted a cub of ghoral during his tour to the Kihar valley. The trend in the rise in the population of the wild animals could be attributed to the awareness of the people about the importance of the wild animals in the eco-system, he added. |
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Bill precedes phone connection!
Nurpur, March 10 He had lost hope for a telephone connection but he was shocked when he received a telephone bill for Rs 1,462 against his telephone No. 283342 from the office of the Account Officer, BSNL Telecom District, Dharamsala. Mr Ram Singh approached the authorities of the BSNL in the Telephone Exchange, Jassur. It was found that no connection had been installed in his house. When a BSNL official was contacted, he clarified that the applicant had been offered a WLL connection but he refused as he wanted landline connection. A telephone bill against WLL connection had been issued inadvertently to the applicant by the account branch. |
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Parliamentary secys must quit, says BJP
Shimla, March 10 Mr Ravi who had filed a similar petition against the former CPSs and PSs after the state high court set aside their appointment as void ab
initio, said since the legislators concerned had failed to return the amount drawn as salary and perks during the period of their appointment, they were liable for disqualification. |
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Plan to redraw limits of wildlife sanctuaries
Shimla, March 10 Giving this information to Ms Asha Kumari of the Congress in the Vidhan Sabha during question hour today, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Forest Minister, said the proposal had been made after an exhaustive exercise that would help exclude almost 85 per cent of the human population and cattle from protected wildlife areas. The proposal would first be approved by the state wildlife board and thereafter put before the empowered committee set up by the Supreme Court. He said as many as 32 out of the total 33 villages in Bhandal sanctuary would be excluded while in the Kalatop sanctuary 262 out of 263 villages were proposed to be taken out. The Norgu sanctuary was proposed to be de-notified because of huge human population. Replying to another question, he said the government was seized of the problem being faced by farmers because of damage being caused to their crop by wild boars, monkeys and other animals. He said the government was working on a multi-pronged strategy to deal with the menace. Besides improving the natural habitat of animals, plans were afoot for sterilisation of monkeys. |
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Dalai Lama wishes to visit China
Dharamsala, March 10 “As a country with a long history of Buddhism, China has many sacred pilgrim sites. I also hope to see for myself the changes and developments in China,” he said. Addressing thousands of Tibetans on the occasion of the 47th Tibetan National Uprising Day at the main temple (TsukLakhang) in McLeodganj, he said it was unfortunate that Beijing still seemed unable to overcome doubts and suspicion regarding his intentions and continued to criticise him for nursing a hidden agenda of separatism. The Dalai Lama said his wish to visit China had been conveyed to the Chinese authorities by his envoys during the fifth round of the talks held recently. During the talks, the two sides were also able to clearly identify the areas of major differences and the reasons thereof. He said over the past decades, China had undergone spectacular economic and social developments and this was commendable. The Tibetan areas had also seen infrastructure development, which he had always considered positive. |
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Bridge under construction collapses, 1 killed
Kulu, March 10 Twentyfive persons, including a Junior Engineer of the Public Works Department, were working on the site when the shuttering gave way. Fifteen persons were injured and one of them succumbed to injuries on way to hospital. The deceased was identified as Mudlung, a Nepalese worker, but the police denied the identification. The Deputy Commissioner ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.
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Row over lease of land
Parwanoo, March 10 Keeping in view the importance of the land for the development of the town, the MC has already written to the HIMUDA authorities to hand over the land to it for a lease period of 99 years. With limited funds available in the form of an annual grant to the meet huge expenditure required for the proper upkeep of the town, the MC has sought land for such a long period of lease. However, HIMUDA's decision for extending the lease period has clearly indicated that it is no mood to honour the MC demand. On the other side, the MC has decided to make a representation to the Chief Minister and minister concerned to press for its demand. |
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